East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, August 14, 2018, Image 1

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    FARM-CITY
RODEO FINISHES
STRONG
GLACIER PARK
SCORCHED BY
WILDFIRES
SPORTS/1B
REGION/6A
TUESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2018
142nd Year, No. 202
One dollar
WINNER OF THE 2018 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
PENDLETON
Wheat from
Northwest
deployed to
war zone
Seven ships, 200,000 tons
en route to war-torn Yemen
By GEORGE PLAVEN
EO Media Group
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Kasumi Wakamori and Yumie Keller take photographs Sage, a great horned owl, on Monday while touring Blue
Mountain Wildlife in Pendleton.
SISTERLY LOVE
Sister City visitors
find much to like
about Pendleton
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
P
endleton, Oregon and Mina-
misoma, Japan are designated
sister cities, but it’s not a relation-
ship meant to take literally.
But Satomi Hase said she feels like
she found a big sister for real with her
host family.
The girl from her host family had
been to Minamisoma as a part of the
Sister City exchange program, and she
and Satomi have been spending some
of their spare time translating the Japa-
nese from a picture book the American
girl bought while in Japan.
Satomi and the five other Mina-
misoma 16-year-olds who participated
in this year’s exchange program have
been immersing themselves in Pendle-
ton and Eastern Oregon since Aug. 7.
In that week, the group has gone to
the Tamastslikt Cultural Institute, the
Umatilla County Fair and Hamley’s,
and they hit another milestone on Mon-
day when they visited the Round-Up.
The girls were led through a tour of
the Round-Up and Happy Canyon Hall
of Fame Museum, where Yumie Keller,
the contingent’s chaperon, acted as
translator.
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Haruka Kyoya, right, passes a hawk’s feather to Rino Kobayashi, center, as
Miyo Sato looks on in one of the flight pens at Blue Mountain Wildlife on
Monday in Pendleton.
With Keller mixing her Japanese
with “cowboy” and the occasional
wrist spin to indicate a lasso, the girls
learned the stories of Roy Raley, Til
Taylor, and other Round-Up history.
The group gasped when they saw
archival footage of cowboys bronc
riding, steer wrestling, or calf roping,
oohing in recognition when the tour
touched on something recognizable.
Keller connected with the exhibit on
Yakima Canutt and his career in Hol-
lywood, where he did stunt work for
famous films like “Ben-Hur,” “Stage-
coach,” and “Gone with the Wind.”
“My father would like this photo,”
Keller said as she snapped a picture
on her phone of a montage of Canutt’s
film work.
As they scattered into the Round-Up
gift shop, the girls shared their thoughts
on their time in Pendleton so far.
Several group members said they
enjoyed the Umatilla County Fair and
See SISTER/8A
“It was like going back in time with an extra large dose of politeness.”
— Jordan McDonald, chaperoning with his wife, Pendleton City Councilor McKennon McDonald
Seven ships loaded with soft white wheat
grown in the Pacific Northwest are bound for
Yemen in the Middle East to feed millions of
people on the brink of famine in the war-torn
country.
The U.S. Agency for International Devel-
opment, or USAID, purchased roughly
200,000 tons of wheat — enough to feed 7
million people in Yemen for two months —
and is working with the United Nations World
Food Program to distribute the shipments.
Officials gathered for a press conference
Friday outside the historic Albers Mill in Port-
land to announce the humanitarian mission.
Stephen Anderson, Yemen country leader for
the World Food Program, said the wheat will
provide much-needed relief to the country,
where nearly 18 million people require emer-
gency food assistance, according to the UN.
“We’re doing our best to get food assistance
to those people who need it most,” Anderson
said. “The situation in Yemen unfortunately
does not show signs of improvement right
now.”
Yemen has been mired in conflict since
2015 between the country’s government,
backed by a Saudi-led military coalition,
and Houthi separatists. The republic, which
imports 90 percent of its food, is now suffering
the world’s largest food security emergency.
USAID has spent more than $550 million
on emergency food assistance in Yemen since
the beginning of fiscal year 2017, sending U.S.
wheat, peas, vegetable oil and food vouchers
to UN agencies and non-governmental orga-
nizations fighting hunger overseas.
Anderson, with the World Food Program,
said the situation on the ground in Yemen is
complex, but with support from U.S. farm-
ers, they are getting aid to between 6-7 mil-
lion people every month.
“I think today we’re forming a partnership
to help fight hunger together,” Anderson said.
Darren Padget, a wheat farmer in Grass
Valley and a member of the Oregon Wheat
Commission, was on hand for Friday’s event.
He said growers take pride in knowing they
are helping to feed the world, especially in
areas where food is scarce.
“It’s what we do, is feed people” Padget
said. “To see it going to people who are truly
in need, it makes you feel good, and gives you
another reason to get up in the morning and
go to work.”
Oregon farmers grow up to 75 million
bushels of mostly soft white wheat per year.
About 85-90 percent of the crop is shipped
overseas.
Rep. Mike McLane, Oregon House Repub-
lican Leader and a lieutenant colonel in the
See WHEAT/8A
Can a diet survive the county fair?
A quest for healthy eating
in the land of fried foods
and sweet treats
By BRITTANY NORTON
East Oregonian
The United States Department of
Agriculture has specific guidelines
to ensure a healthy lifestyle: Make
sure half of your plate is fruits and
vegetables, eat whole grains, eat low-
fat or fat-free dairy, limit saturated
fats and sodium.
But what about the week of the
county fair, when classic fair foods
such as cotton candy, deep fried corn
dogs and elephant ears come into
our lives? Or when the savory scent
of pork roasting over a mesquite
barbecue is enough to make anyone’s
mouth water and stomach grumble?
Fairgoers must make the difficult
decision between greasy and delicious
fair food and sticking to a healthy
diet. But what if there was an option
that featured the best of both worlds
— appetizing food that isn’t that bad
for you?
I set out on the hunt to find it on
Saturday at the Umatilla County Fair
in Hermiston.
The Umatilla County Public
Health Department set up a table at
the fair to pass out free gear related to
suicide prevention, including purple
drawstring bags that read “Your life
matters.” It was also handing out
fruit and vegetable cups to kids, but
See HEALTHY/8A
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Emily Garcia puts together a fruit cup at the Raspados del Sur
food cart on Saturday at the Umatilla County Fair in Hermiston.